1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an auxiliary attachment for a bicycle drop-style handlebar, and in particular to an auxiliary bar conducive to the cyclist's comfortable improvement of his aerodynamic profile.
2. Description Relative to the Prior Art
Cycling has been developing from a casual, relaxed pastime into a highly sophisticated, high technology sport. Modern racing bicycles are engineered for light weight, structural strength and mechanical efficiency. Additionally, the position of the cyclist on the bicycle, as well as his posture is of extreme importance in determining the aerodynamic drag experienced while cycling at high speed.
The steering mechanism universally used on today's racing bicycles is the drop-style handlebar. The drop-style handlebar consists of a crossbar terminating in two downwardly extending branches, ( known as "drops"), which then transition into two rearwardly extending handgrips. Referring to FIG. 1, in the prior art a cyclist 10 mounted on a bicycle 12 utilizing a drop-style handlebar 14, positions his hands on the readwardly extending hand grips 16,18. In this position, the cyclist 10 has a limited degree of control of the area that his forward facing body elements present to the on-coming mass of air. While the cyclist 10 can bend forward, thereby lowering his head position and reducing his forward facing aerodynamic profile to a certain extent, the position of his hands on the outwardly located hand grips 16,18 does not provide control over the lateral aspect of his forward facing profile. It is to the further reduction of the aerodynamic area presented by the cyclist's body, and the attendant reduction of aerodynamic drag, that the teaching of the present invention is directed.